Implementing ACCM Critical Care Guidelines for Septic Shock Management in a Cuban Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

INTRODUCTION Sepsis is the most common direct cause of death worldwide and septic shock the syndrome's most serious complication. In 2002, the pediatric intensive care unit of the José Luis Miranda Pediatric University Hospital in Santa Clara (Villa Clara Province), Cuba, began implementing the recently published guidelines of the American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) for management of pediatric and neonatal septic shock, observing a drop in case fatality from 34.6 percent to 19 percent between the years 2003 and 2007. ACCM updated these Guidelines in 2007(AU)